Milindapanha:
“The Questions of King Milinda”
Khuddaka Nikaya 18
Introduction
In the land of the Bactrian Greeks, there was a city called Sagala, a great centre of trade. Rivers and hills beautified it, delightful landscapes surrounded it, and it possessed many parks, gardens, woods, lakes and lotus-ponds. Its king was Milinda, a man who was learned, experienced, intelligent and competent, and who at the proper times carefully observed all the appropriate Brahminic rites, with regard to things past, present and future. As a disputant he was hard to assail, hard to overcome, and he was recognized as a prominent sectarian teacher.
One day, a numerous company of Arhats, who lived in a well-protected spot in the Himalayas, sent a messenger to the Venerable Nagasena, then, at the Asoka Park in Patna, asking him to come, as they wished to see him. Nagasena immediately complied by vanishing from where he was and miraculously appearing before them.
And the Arhats said to him: "That king Milinda, Nagasena, constantly harasses the order of monks with questions and counter-questions, with arguments and counter-arguments. Please go, Nagasena, and subdue him!"
But Nagasena replied: "Never mind just this one king Milinda! If all the kings of India would come to see me with their questions, I could well dispose of them, and they would give no more trouble after that! You may go to Sagala without any fear whatever!"
And the elders went to Sagala, lighting up the city with their yellow robes that shone like lamps, and bringing with them the fresh breeze of the holy mountains.
The Venerable Nagasena stayed at the Sankheyya hermitage together with 80,000 monks. King Milinda, accompanied by a retinue of 500 Greeks, went up to where he was, gave him a friendly and courteous greeting, and sat on one side. Nagasena returned his greetings, and his courtesy pleased the king's heart.
THE CHARIOT
And King Milinda asked him: "How is Your Reverence known, and what is your name, sir?"
"As Nagasena I am known, O Great King, and as Nagasena do my fellow religious habitually address me. But although parents give name such as Nagasena, or Surasena, or Virasena, or Sihasena, nevertheless, this word "Nagasena" is just a denomination, a designation, a conceptual term, a current appellation, a mere name. For no real person can here be apprehended."
But King Milinda explained: "Now listen, you 500 Greeks and 80,000 monks, this Nagasena tells me that he is not a real person! How can I be expected to agree with that!" And to Nagasena he said: "If, Most Reverend Nagasena, no person can be apprehended in reality, who then, I ask you, gives you what you require by way of robes, food, lodging, and medicines? Who is it that guards morality, practices meditation, and realizes the [Four] Paths and their Fruits, and thereafter Nirvana? Who is it that killing living beings, takes what is not given, commits sexual misconduct, tell lies, drinks intoxicants? Who is it that commits the Five Deadly Sins? For, if there were no person, there could ne no merit and no demerit; no doer of meritorious or demeritorious deeds, and no agent behind them; no fruit of good and evil deeds, and no reward or punishment for them. If someone should kill you, O Venerable Nagasena, would not be a real teacher, or instructor, or ordained monk! You just told me that your fellow religious habitually address you as "Nagasena". Then, what is this "Nagasena"? Are perhaps the hairs of the head "Nagasena?"
"No, Great King!"
"Or perhaps the nails, teeth, skin, muscles, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, serous membranes, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach, excrement, the bile, phlegm, pus, blood, grease, fat, tears, sweat, spittle, snot, fluid of the joints, urine, or the brain in the skull-are they this "Nagasena"?"
"No, Great King!"
"Or is "Nagasena" a form, or feelings, or perceptions, or impulses, or consciousness?"
"No, Great King!"
Then is it the combination of form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness?"
"No, Great King!"
"Then is it outside the combination of form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness?"
"No, Great King!"
"Then, ask as I may, I can discover no Nagasena at all. This "Nagasena" is just a mere sound, but who is the real Nagasena? Your Reverence has told a lie, has spoken a falsehood! There is really no Nagasena!"
Thereupon, the Venerable Nagasena said to King Milinda: "As a king you have been brought up in great refinement and you avoid roughness of any kind. If you would walk at midday on this hot, burning, and sandy ground, then your feet would have to trend on the rough and gritty gravel and pebbles, and they would hurt you, your body would get tired, your mind impaired, and your awareness of your body would be associated with pain. How then did you come on foot, or on a mount?"
"I did not come, Sir, on foot, but on a chariot."
"If you have come on a chariot, then please explain to me what a chariot is. Is the pole the chariot?"
"No, Reverend Sir!"
"Is then the axle the chariot?"
"No, Reverend Sir!"
"Is it then the wheels, or the framework, of the flag-staff, or the yoke, or the reins, or the goad-stick?"
"No, Reverend Sir!"
"Then is it the combination of poke, axle, wheels, framework, flag-staff, yoke, reins, and goad which is the "chariot"?"
"No, Reverend Sir!"
"Then, is this "chariot" outside the combination of poke, axle, wheels, framework, flag-staff, yoke, reins and goad?"
"No, Reverend Sir!"
"Then, ask as I may, I can discover no chariot at all. This "chariot" is just a mere sound. But what is the real chariot? Your Majesty has told a lie, has spoken a falsehood! There is really no chariot! Your Majesty is the greatest king in the whole of India. Of whom then are you afraid, that you do not speak the truth?" And he exclaimed: "Now listen, you 500 Greeks and 80,000 monks, this King Milinda tells me that he has come on a chariot. But when asked to explain to me what a chariot is, he cannot establish its existence. How can one possibly approve of that?"
The 500 Greeks thereupon applauded the Venerable Nagasena and said to King Milinda: "Now let You Majesty get out of that if you can!"
But King Milinda said to Nagasena: "I have not, Nagasena, spoken a falsehood. For it is in dependence on the pole, the axle, the wheels, the framework, the flag-staff, etc, there takes place this denomination "chariot", this designation, this conceptual term, a current appellation and a mere name."
"Your Majesty has spoken well about the chariot. It is just so with me. In dependence on the thirty-two parts of the body and the five Skandhas, there takes place this denomination "Nagasena", this designation, this conceptual term, a current appellation and a mere name. In ultimate reality, however, this person cannot be apprehended. And this has been said by our sister Vajira when she was face to face with the Lord Buddha:
"Where all constituent parts are present, the word "a chariot" is applied. So, likewise, where the skandhas are, the term a "being" commonly is used."
"It is wonderful, Nagasena, it is astonishing, Nagasena! Most brilliantly have these questions been answered! Were the Lord Buddha Himself here, He would approve what you have said. Well spoken, Nagasena! Well spoken!"
Personal Identity and Rebirth
The king asked: "When someone is reborn, Venerable Nagasena, is he the same as the one who just died, or is he another?"
The elder replied: "He is neither the same nor another."
"Give me an illustration!"
"What do you think, Great King? When you were a tiny infant, newly born and quite soft, were you then the same as the one who is now grown up?"
"No, that infant was one, I, now grown up, am another."
"If that is so, then, Great King, you have had no mother, no father, no reaching, no schooling! Do we then take it that there is one mother for the embryo in the first stage, another for the second stage, another for the third, another for the fourth, another for the baby, another for the grown-up man? Is the schoolboy one person, and the one who has finished school another? Does one commit a crime, but the hands and feet of another are cut off?"
"Certainly not! But what would you say, Reverend Sir, to all that?"
The elder replied: "I was neither the tiny infant, newly born and quite soft, nor am I now the grown-up man; but all these are comprised in one unit depending on this very body."
"Give me a simile!"
"If a man were to light a lamp, could it give light throughout the whole night?"
"Yes, it could."
"Is now the flame which burns in the first watch of the night the same as the one which burns in the second?"
"It is not the same."
"Or is the flame which burns in the second watch the same as the one which burns in the last one?"
"It is not the same."
"Do we then take it that there is one lamp in the first watch of the night, another in the second, and another again in the third?"
"No, it is just because of the light of the lamp shines throughout the night."
"Even so must we understand the collocation of a series of successive dharmas. At rebirth one dharma arises, while another stops; but the two processes take place almost simultaneously (i.e. they are continuous). Therefore, the first act of consciousness in the new existence is neither the same as the last act of consciousness in the previous existence, nor it is the another."
"Give me another simile!"
"Milk, once the milking is done, turns after sometimes into curds; from curds it turns into fresh butter; and from fresh butter into ghee. Would it now be correct to say that the milk is the same thing as the curds, or the fresh butter, or the ghee?"
"No, it would not. But they have been produced because of it."
"Just so must be understood the collocation of a series of successive dharmas."
Personal Identity and Karma
The king asked: "Is there, Venerable Nagasena, any being which passes on from this body to another body?"
"No, Your Majesty!"
"If there were no passing on from this body to another, would not one then in one's next life be freed from the evil deeds committed in the past?"
"Yes, that would be so if one were not linked once again with a new organism. But since, Your Majesty, one is linked once again with a new organism, therefore one is not freed from one's evil deeds."
"Give me a simile!"
"If a man should steal another man's mangoes, would he deserve a thrashing for that?"
"Yes, of course!"
"But he would not have stolen the very same mangoes as the other one had planted. Why should he deserve a thrashing?"
"For the reason that the stolen mangoes had grown because of those that were planted."
"Just so, Your Majesty, it is because of the deeds one does, whether pure or impure, by means of this psycho-physical organism, that one is once again linked with another psycho-physical organism, and is not freed from one's evil deeds."
"Very good, Venerable Nagasena!"
The king said: "Is it through wise attention that people become exempt from further rebirth?"
"Yes, that is due to wise attention, and also to wisdom, and the other wholesome dharmas."
"But is not wise attention the same as wisdom?"
"No, Your Majesty! Attention is one thing, and wisdom another. Sheep and goats, oxen and buffaloes, camels and asses have attention, but wisdom they have not."
"Well put, Venerable Nagasena!"
The king asked: "What is the mark of attention, and what is the mark of wisdom?"
"Consideration is the mark of attention, cutting off that of wisdom."
"How is that? Give me a simile!"
"You know barley-reapers, I suppose?"
"Yes, I do."
"How then do they reap the barley?"
"With the left hand they seize a bunch of barley, in the right hand they hold a sickle, and they cut off the barley with that sickle."
"Just so, Your Majesty, the yogin seizes his mental processes with his attention, and by his wisdom he cuts off the defilements."
"Well put, Venerable Nagasena!"
The king said: "When you just spoke of the other wholesome dharmas, which one did you mean?"
"I meant morality, faith, vigor, mindfulness, and concentration."
"And what is the mark of morality?"
"Morality has the mark of providing a basis for all wholesome dharmas, whatever they may be. When based on morality, all the wholesome dharmas will not dwindle away."
"Give me an illustration!"
"As all plants and animals which increase, grow, and prosper, do so with the earth as their basis, just so the yogin, with morality as his support, with morality as basis, develops the five cardinal virtues, i.e. faith, vigor, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom."
"Give me an illustration!"
"As the builder of a city when constructing a town, first of all clears the site, removes all stumps and thorns, and levels it; and only after that he lays out and marks off the roads and cross-roads, and so builds the city. Even so the yogin develops the five cardinal virtues with morality as his support, with morality as his basis."
The king said: "What is the mark of faith?"
"Faith makes serene, and it leaps forward."
"And how does faith make serene?"
"When faith arises it arrests the [Five] Hindrances, and the heart becomes free from them, clear, serene and undisturbed."
"Give me an illustration!"
"A universal monarch might on his way, together with his fourfold army, cross over a small stream. Stirred up by the elephants and horses, by the chariots and infantry, the water would become disturbed, agitated and muddy. Have crossed over, the universal monarch would order his men to bring some water to drink. But the king would possesses a miraculous water-cleaning gem, and his men, in obedience to his command, would throw it into the stream. Then at once all fragments of vegetation would float away, the mud would settle at the bottom, the stream would become clear, serene and undisturbed, and fit to be drunk by the universal monarch. Here the stream corresponds to the heart, the monarch's men to the yogin, the fragments of vegetation and the mud to the defilements, and the miraculous water-clearing gem to faith."
"And how does faith leap forward?"
"When the yogin sees that the hearts of other have been set free, he leaps forward, by way of aspiration, to the various fruits of a holy life, and he makes efforts to attain the yet unattained, to find the yet unfound, to realize the yet unrealized."
"Give me an illustrated!"
"Suppose that a great cloud were to burst over a hill-slope. The water then would flow down the slope, would first fill all the hill's clefts, fissures, and gullies, and would then run into the river below, making its bank overflow on both sides. Now suppose further a great crowd of people had come along, and unable to size up either the width or the depth of the river, should stand frightened and hesitating on the bank. But then the some man would come along, who, conscious of his own strength and power, would firmly tie on his loincloth and jump across the river. And the great crowd of people, seeing him on the other side, would cross likewise. Even so the yogin, when he has seen that the hearts of others have been set free, leaps forward, by aspiration, to the various fruits of the holy life, and he makes efforts to attain the yet unattained, to find the yet unfound, to realize the yet unrealized. And this is what the Lord Buddha has said in the Samyutta Nikaya:
"By faith the flood is crossed,
By wakefulness the sea;
By vigor ill is passed;
By wisdom cleansed is he."
The king asked: "And what is the mark of vigor?"
"Vigor props up, and when propped up by vigor, all the wholesome dharmas do not dwindle away."
"Give me a simile!"
"If a man's house were falling down, he would prop it up with a new place of wood, and so supported, that house would not collapse."
The king asked: "And what is the mark of mindfulness?"
"When mindfulness arises, one calls to mind the dharmas which participate in what is wholesome and unwholesome, blamable and blameless, inferior and sublime, dark and light, i.e. these are the four applications of mindfulness, there are the four applications of mindfulness, these are the four right efforts, these are the four roads to psychic power, these are the five cardinal virtues, these are the five powers, these are the seven limbs of enlightenment, this is the holy eightfold path, this is calm, this is insight, this is knowledge and this is emancipation. Thereafter, the yogin tends those dharmas that should be tended, and he does not tend those that should not be tended; he partakes of those dharmas that should be followed, and he does not partake of those that should not be followed. It is in this sense that calling to mind is a mark of mindfulness."